Nanomanufacturing of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube Arrays from Industrial Waste Gas Mixture

利用工业废气混合物纳米制造垂直排列碳纳米管阵列

基本信息

批准号：
1728567
负责人：
Placidus Amama
金额：
$ 29.97万
依托单位：
Kansas State University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2017
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2017-09-01 至 2022-08-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1728567&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Nanomanufacturing Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube

项目摘要

Although significant progress has been made in the past two decades in scaling up carbon nanotube manufacture via chemical vapor deposition, the process still faces key challenges such as poor yield due to short catalyst lifetime, low nanotube nucleation density, slow production rate, variations in nanotube properties, resulting in high cost of the nanotubes. Chemical vapor deposition is often plagued by complicated optimization procedures due to the high sensitivity of the growth process to variations in the feedstock composition and flow characteristics. For energy applications that exploit the intrinsic electrical and thermal anisotropy of carbon nanotubes, such as thermal interface materials and battery electrodes, organized nanotube architectures are required to be grown directly on conductive substrates that hardly support growth. This award paves the way for an industrial waste-gas mixture to be used as a feedstock for scalable, low-cost, and continuous manufacture of high-quality carbon nanotube arrays on nontraditional substrates. The use of this feedstock for nanotube growth minimizes the amount of flue gases in oil refineries, thus enhancing environmental protection. The study provides a platform for educating students at many levels, including women and under-represented minorities, on topics related to nanoscience, nanotechnology and nanomanufacturing.The project develops the fundamental understanding required to couple catalytic chemical vapor deposition to the waste stream of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) process for scalable and controlled growth of carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays. The project research plan combines reaction engineering through modification of gas-phase chemistry, rational catalyst substrate modification, and advanced ex situ and in situ characterization of catalysts and CNT arrays. The resulting understanding of the roles of the waste-gas mixture and catalyst-substrate interactions in CNT growth enhancement provides a rational basis for optimization and scale-up of CNT growth on nontraditional substrates. Unlike conventional feedstocks that require strict process control and growth rate, area density of CNTs and their quality are generally less sensitive to the fraction of the waste gas during growth, and thus allow for easy optimization and scale-up. The research is expected to contribute in-depth understanding of catalyst-substrate interactions, catalyst evolution under different reaction conditions, and gas-phase chemistries during CNT growth. This study has the distinct possibility of having broad implications in multiple applications, including energy storage and thermal management.

尽管过去二十年在通过化学气相沉积扩大碳纳米管制造规模方面取得了重大进展，但该工艺仍然面临关键挑战，例如催化剂寿命短、纳米管成核密度低、生产率低、纳米管变化导致产量低等。的特性，导致纳米管的成本较高。由于生长过程对原料成分和流动特性的变化高度敏感，化学气相沉积经常受到复杂的优化程序的困扰。对于利用碳纳米管固有的电和热各向异性的能源应用，例如热界面材料和电池电极，需要将有组织的纳米管结构直接生长在几乎不支持生长的导电基底上。该奖项为工业废气混合物用作原料，在非传统基材上可扩展、低成本、连续制造高质量碳纳米管阵列铺平了道路。使用这种原料进行纳米管生长可以最大限度地减少炼油厂的烟气量，从而增强环境保护。该研究为对包括女性和代表性不足的少数族裔在内的多个层次的学生进行纳米科学、纳米技术和纳米制造相关主题的教育提供了一个平台。该项目发展了将催化化学气相沉积与费舍尔废物流耦合所需的基本理解。用于碳纳米管 (CNT) 阵列可扩展和受控生长的托罗普希合成 (FTS) 工艺。该项目研究计划通过气相化学改性、合理的催化剂基材改性以及催化剂和碳纳米管阵列的先进非原位和原位表征将反应工程结合起来。由此对废气混合物和催化剂-基底相互作用在碳纳米管生长增强中的作用的理解为非传统基底上碳纳米管生长的优化和放大提供了合理的基础。与需要严格工艺控制和生长速率的传统原料不同，碳纳米管的面积密度及其质量通常对生长过程中废气的比例不太敏感，因此可以轻松优化和扩大规模。该研究预计将有助于深入了解催化剂与基底的相互作用、不同反应条件下的催化剂演化以及碳纳米管生长过程中的气相化学。这项研究很可能在多种应用中产生广泛的影响，包括能量存储和热管理。